Kimberly Chan DMD 12 Highlights Research Findings at ADA Meeting

As the winner of this year’s ADA/Dentsply Award Kimberly Chan DMD 12 was invited to present her research as part of the student poster session at the 2010 American Dental Association (ADA) Annual Session, held October 9-12 in Orlando, Florida.

Her presentation, titled, "iPS Cells Generated from OFCD Patient as a Study Model for Developmental Disorder," was based on research that she completed under the guidance of Xing Yan, James Liao, and Dr. George Huang.

Oculofacialcardiodental (OFCD) syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by mutations in the BCOR gene. OFCD syndrome is characterized by enlarged dental roots, as well as eye, facial, and heart abnormalities. The purpose of Chan’s research was to determine the following:

1. If stem cells from the apical papilla (SCAP) from OFCD patients (SCAPOFCD) may be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells
2. If SCAPOFCD-iPS cells express embryonic stem (ES)-cell markers
3. If SCAPOFCD-iPS cell-derived embryoid bodies express markers representing different germ layers
4. If SCAPOFCD-iPS cells have different differentiation potential

Chan concluded that SCAPOFCD may be reprogrammed into iPS cells, that SCAPOFCD-iPS cells express ES-cell markers, and their embryoid bodies have the potential to form cells of different germ layers. She also noted that SCAPOFCD-iPS cells possess similar characteristics to SCAP-iPS and hES cells in cultures while showing differences in differentiation potential and that they may be used to study the disease mechanisms of OFCD.